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The Met Office warned people returning to work after the Christmas holidays to watch out for stubborn fog in the coming days.

Forecaster Simon Partridge said it will be slow to clear thanks to unusually high pressure wedged over the UK.

The Met Office today released the following statement, along with a map highlighting the spread of the killer fog expected for tomorrow.

They said: "We warn the public and emergency responders of severe or hazardous weather which has the potential to cause danger to life or widespread disruption through our National Severe Weather Warning Service.

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The Met Office have released this map showing the spread of the fog

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Overnight lows of up to -5C will leave the nation shivering in cold

People with respiratory conditions, such as COPD and asthma, can find their conditions worsening

Dr Penny Woods, British Lung Foundation

"We issue warnings for rain, snow, wind, fog and ice. These warnings will be given a colour depending on a combination of both the likelihood of the event happening and the impact the conditions may have.

"The warnings 'Overview' tab presents an overview of the warnings in force for the UK for the next five days.

"The 'Detail' tab presents a detailed view and description of warnings for individual regions.

"The UK map will show warnings which are in force for the selected day.

"Change the selected day by clicking one of the daily thumbnail views of the UK map in the upper right hand side.

Clicking on a warning area on the UK map will highlight the regions affected in the table on the lower right hand side.

"Selecting a region will switch to the 'Detail' tab and present a detailed view and description of all warnings for that region for the selected day.

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With high pressure over the UK it will take time for the fog to disappear

He said: “High pressure will be in charge for most of the week so apart from the far north it is going to be generally dry and settled.

“We are expecting widespread frosts and fog overnight in central, southern and eastern regions which will be slow to clear and will lead to some quite chilly days.

“Scotland will be slightly milder at perhaps 9C (48.2F) or 10C (50F), but it will be more unsettled.

“On New Year’s Eve we have a band of rain stretching across most of Scotland and with slightly colder air behind we could see snow over high ground, so after the mild weather parts of Scotland could see a white start to the year.

“The main issue this week through will be fog, we have very strong high pressure over the UK which will make it very slow to clear.”

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To minimise the health impact, people should avoid hotspots of heavy pollution

European air quality experts Prev’Air warned pollution will build across Britain over the next few days.

The main culprits will be PM10 and PM2.5 - tiny suspended particles of soot, metal and vehicle exhaust fumes.

Experts have warned people with breathing or other health conditions to take extra care when pollution levels are high.

Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “During periods of moderate or high pollution, people with respiratory conditions, such as COPD and asthma, can find their conditions worsening.

“To minimise this impact, people should avoid pollution hotspots, such as busy roads, particularly during rush hour.